Gwynedd Council's cabinet has rubber-stamped plans to axe all the county's youth clubs in a bid to save £270,000.

A meeting in Caernarfon today saw members approve shutting all 39 youth clubs in favour of "a county-wide club" that would deliver a "wide programme of activities."

The proposed remodelled service will see a youth worker attached to all of Gwynedd's secondary schools with personal support also on hand for 16-25 year olds who are facing barriers to education, training or work.

There will also be full-time officers to assist any communities who wish to set-up their own voluntary run clubs.

But concerns were raised by some members over a perceived lack of engagement with affected areas, questions over a lack of communication being asked in the chamber.

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Craig ab Iago, portfolio holder for the youth service, said: "There are three main things that have driven this work - the changing expectations amongst younger people; less money available to the council ; and changes to government policy in terms of what provisions are needed by young people. "I accept that change is difficult but we can't continue to do the same thing year in year out if the service does not meet the needs of young people."

The Gwynedd Council offices in Caernarfon (Image: Hadyn Iball)

According to the report, the move will impact on the existing 100 part time and 12 full time staff, with the new service only requiring 21 part time workers but an increase in full time employees to 19. This, says the authority, will lead to estimated redundancy costs of around £138,000.

The report also accepts that while youth clubs are currently hosted at 36 village halls and three school halls across the county, scrapping such clubs could have an impact on the viability of some of these village halls.

But there was slightly better news for Gwynedd's young farmers, who are set to be offered a reprieve - but only in the short term.

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There had been concerns that the initial proposal to stop the £37,960 annual grant, currently used to help fund full-time county organisers, would put at risk such events as Eisteddfodau, county rallies and livestock competitions.

But the authority has now announced it will provide approximately 75% of this funding for another year - but remaining adamant that this will cease after 2018/19.

The county officer for Meirionnydd YFC, while grateful for the extra year's funding, said the move "does nothing to sort out their longer term future."

"Its certainly a help in the short term, but the future is far from clear after that," said Ffion Williams. "Without funding from the local authority we face a substantial restructure which could prove to be quite difficult."

Gwynedd council finance chief Cllr Peredur Jenkins

Finance portfolio holder, Cllr Peredur Jenkins, bemoaned the loss in support for organisations such as the Young Farmers, which he described as "creating tomorrow's leaders."

"These are certainly unfortunate cuts, that have sadly been imposed upon us as result of the UK Government's austerity programme," he added.

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But Cllr Dilwyn Morgan raised fears that the future of the youth service had not been communicated effectively enough, saying that the authority had "failed to quell local concerns" in communities that face losing youth clubs in their present form.

Despite this, the recommendation was passed unanimously.

As a result the current provision is set to end this Easter, with the remodelled service set to start life in September.